Just bought a C64 :-)

[motorollin]

Marco wrote:
With the later revision SID chip that a lot of people complained about for sounding ever-so-slightly different IIRC.

Hmmm dunno about that. I got it solely for music. Will the SID chip in this revision be ok  :-?

--
moto

[Marco]

Given I couldn't even tell from the picture wether you'd bought a C or a G revision, I'm really not the person to give advice but I think the C did have different chips to the original breadbin models.

Then again I think I read (on a collector site) that some C-64Cs were made by using original version mobos and chips left over from the previous production run; Commodore's production techniques were, odd at the best of times.

kd7ota's post seems to explain the difference between the two SID chips BTW.

[motorollin]

SID is socketed anyway, right? So I could change it for a different one if I wanted to?

--
moto

[humppa]

Get yourself a MMC64 and maybe a Retro Replay and then head over to the real cool stuff. ;-)
You could also get ethernet and a proper browser with CSS-support. ;-)

[motorollin]

Hmmmm, forgot about the MMC64. Can I access it like a 1541? IOW, can would I be able to save Prophet64 projects on to the MMC card? Also, will the expansion port passthrough from the MMC64 work with the Prophet64?

--
moto

[the_woz]

motorollin wrote:
SID is socketed anyway, right? So I could change it for a different one if I wanted to?

--
moto

No, the original SID (6581) uses a diferent voltage than the newer one (8580)

Also, is there some 1541 emulator for the amiga?
I used my A500 to transfer files to a 1541, but not as file server for the 64. If you do so, be carefull, the Amiga doesn't have any protection on the parallel port, any problem and you'll fry a CIA, as happened to me

[humppa]

motorollin wrote:

Marco wrote:
With the later revision SID chip that a lot of people complained about for sounding ever-so-slightly different IIRC.

Hmmm dunno about that. I got it solely for music. Will the SID chip in this revision be ok  :-?

It will be ok, there is nothing wrong with it. The 8580 sounds a bit cleaner than the 6581. On the other hand drums sound quite phat on the 6581 while being a little too "metallic" on the 8580. But that's just personal taste.
One important difference though are digis, e.g. digitized speech like in the beginning og "The last V8" or "Space Taxi". The 8580 is nearly uncapable of playing those digis at a decent volume. There is a resistor-fix available, very easy to do, I did it and it worked perfectly.

[Damion]

More cool c64 stuff here:

http://www.ide64.org/

and

http://www.volny.cz/dundera/devices.html


Nothing seems to be ready for purchase though(?).

[arkpandora]

Actually this fourth voice is the main problem of the 8580.  It is strange to notice that the number of musics that used this voice increased in the second half of the C64's life, despite this problem that prevents any digitized sound to be audible among synthesized sounds.  As if no musician had noticed the problem, or been told about it in case they were using an older C64.

What does this resistor-fix consist of ?

[Bodie]

motorollin wrote:
This is mine now :-D I intend to use it with a Prophet64. Can't wait to get it and for the Prophet64s to be back in stock!!!

--
moto

I'am soooo very jealous of you at the moment. My C64 only gives a black screen when it powers on   :cry: .

[kickstart]

8580 SID-chip in c64c have a "bug" with digital samples, this are playing at very low volume but you can fix it in a very simple way with a 330k resistance between pins 11 and 26

motorollin:

Have you more info about use an a1200 or pc like 1514 and what kind of cable i needed?

Thanks in advance.

[TjLaZer]

@ motorollin

I have Pang (on cart) for the C64 would you be interested in buying it?

[Tomas]

countzero wrote:
hello moto,
I thought you were in US (NTSC zone). Do you have a compatible screen to use this with ?

Nearly all newer PAL tv's also support NTSC these days luckily Sad that this isnt the case for NTSC tvs..

[humppa]

8580 SID-chip in c64c have a "bug" with digital samples, this are playing at very low volume but you can fix it in a very simple way with a 330k resistance between pins 11 and 26

That's what I did and it worked fine. You can vary a bit with the resistors between 300k and 500k and the strength of the effect will change. The best would be to have a potentiometer for that, so you can regulate it to your own liking.
It's good that you put "bug" in quotes, because it's rather the other way round. The 6581 has a bug when turning the volume up and down on one channel very quickly. The result is a clicking noise that some programmers used for generating digi sounds. Weird technique, but it worked.
The 6581 has a more "warm" sound while the 8580 sounds very clean and "sharp".

[motorollin]

Hope I get the 6581  :-(  Though I can "warm up" the sound once I've sampled it in to my MacBook.

Have a look at Emul1541 on Aminet. It aparrently lets you use your Amiga as a C64 disk drive. I have never tried it, but it looks like you need to build a circut to connect the Amiga's parallel port to the C64's serial port. Think I'll just get the MMC64 instead. Does anyone know whether I will be able to use the Prophet64 connected to the MC64 passthrough, and whether I can save Prophet64 projects to the MMC card?

--
moto

[Oliver]

If you want to make 303 type sounds, you will probably prefer the 8580 chip.  You may like to put two of them in your c64 as well.  It is possible to put an 8580 chip in a 6581 computer, but it takes a little more work.

You should also have a look at the midibox sid project at midibox.org (follow the micro C apps link), if you're interested in SID chip instruments.  It takes more work again, but it is capable of much more than the prophet64.  For 303ish sounds, you can have a look at the bassline mode.  You can also find info and links regarding the SID chip revisions.